Page 80 of The Secret of Emerald Cottage

“Yes, I am,” she said with a thrust of her chin, all but dragging him into the kitchen, “and I’m about to do it again.” She hopped up on one of the island stools and folded her hands on the table top. “Will you make me your signature peppermint white hot chocolate? You know, to calm me down after a nerve-wracking day?”

He shook his head, a smile easing across his lips as he sauntered to the fridge to retrieve the milk. “Well, I guess if I can’t bash in somebody’s head, the least I can do is calm you down.” Plunking the milk onto the counter, he ambled over to the pantry to pull out the white chocolate and vanilla, eyeing her over his shoulder. “I didn’t have a good feeling about you going there alone, you know.”

“I know.” A weary sigh drifted from her lips as she rubbed her arms, “but I didn’t think anything could happen if I drove over, and I did have my revolver.”

“Thank God.” He reached for a saucepan on the rack over the stove and poured in the milk. “Even so, I wasn’t thrilled with you going alone, Molly. Call it my sixth sense if you want, but I’ve been concerned for you.”

“I know,” she said again, so very grateful for the close friendship they shared. She watched as he grated the white-chocolate bar into the pot, thinking how wrong she’d been about him in the beginning, slowly discovering what Miss Lilly had known all along. Deep down he was a “good boy,” who was, despite a long detour, now growing into a very “good man.” A smile softened her lips. “Your sixth sense was right on, Brec, so I promise to heed it next time.”

“Good.” He added vanilla and kosher salt. “But to be honest, I knew you’d be all right no matter what.”

Tipping her head down, she squinted at him. “You did,” she said, the words more of a statement than a question.

“I did.” He pulled another saucepan out to make his special peppermint topping, shooting a lazy smile over his shoulder.

“And how exactly did you know that?” she asked, thinking he was a dangerous man because his killer smile and killer hot chocolate were a perilous combination.

He smirked as he added his ingredients to the second pot. “Because I prayed for you.”

She blinked in surprise. Right before she arched a brow with a secret smile. “Oh, and you had the faith to believe it would work, did you?”

He shrugged while he stirred. “Well, it’s a mustard seed to be sure, at least next to your mile-wide tree, but what can I say?” He sent her a wink before returning to his task. “Aunt Lilly’s a good teacher.”

Against her will, tears immediately burned in her nose as she blinked, never more grateful for Miss Lilly. Hopping off the bar stool, she rushed to hug him from behind, taking him by surprise with a tight squeeze.

Dropping his spoon into the pot with a clatter, he turned the stove off before shifting to brace her arms with a chuckle. “So, let me get this straight, Princess. All it takes to get a hug is a prayer?” A twinkle lit those amazing blue eyes as he flashed those deadly dimples. “Kind of makes me wonder what a whole boatload would get me, you know, with maybe a daily Bible reading thrown in too?”

Moisture pooled in her eyes as her heart soared with hope, barely daring to believe that Brec might be on his way to a faith that matched hers. “It would get you this,” she whispered, voice hoarse with emotion as she lifted on tiptoe to softly press a kiss to his cheek, her mouth lingering on his skin several seconds to let him know that for her, this was more than just the sweet kiss of a friend. Her pulse pounded in her ears as his body froze, rooted to the floor like a statue before she pulled away with a tender smile. “So, keep it up, Soccer Boy, and you might just see a few other prayers answered as well.”

His brows beetled low. “Like the possibility of more than friendship?”

She studied him with deep affection, pretty sure he could see the burgeoning love in her eyes. “Well, you know what the Good Book says”—she chewed on the edge of her smile, suddenly shy—“anything’s possible with God, so if you keep it up, you never know.”

A slow and easy grin eased across his face as his arms loosely circled her waist. “Well, in that case, Molly Stewart”—lids lowering, he pressed his forehead to hers with a husky chuckle—“let us pray.”